A History of Indian Literature v3.c35.s7.54

v3.c35.s7.54

Extraordinarily valuable is Rājātaraṅgiṇī as a cultural historical source. The descriptions that are true to life and those that have been, in at least the last two books, taken from the actual life of Kalhaṇa permit us to get an insight into Indian cultural conditions of the 11th and 12th centuries, as few works of the Indian literature do. The work is an extraordinarily rich source of information, especially for a knowledge of the religious conditions, the nature of the sects, Kashmirian popular faiths, the snake-cult, burning of widows, etc. We learn from him about law, administration, affairs of the officials, etc. too¹.